Shadows Swarm

*Nero points his Keyblade at one of the mysterious flying platforms & an energy whip shoots out, grabbing it & pulling on it. A mechanism on the platform lights up & it begins gently floating down. Nero turns to Noctis.*

N"Uh, hello, fairy tales, lux, which I can only guess is some kind of make-up, & I think I saw something about the power of children's wishes...totally gay."

*Once it reaches the bottom floor, the platform begins to lazily float back up.*
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E"King Triton always said that wine is human poison."

*Roatha strides through, hands in his pockets, looking really pissed off about something or other.*

E"Oh, maybe Roatha wants to go to Halloween Town."

*He looks at each of them in turn.*

R"...Are you serious? Are you 3 idiots really fighting over what world you're going to go to?"

E"That seems a little harsh."

R"And what exactly would you know? You don't know what Halloween even IS, do you? This week was the first time you saw grass! You don't know shit about shit! You're like some stupid little kid!"

*He rounds on Taiyo & Mortal, pointing at them. Dark flames flicker off of him & his voice starts to distort, prompting Binah to raise an eyebrow.*

R"And you 2, fawning all over some bitch that you just met, do you have ANY shame at ALL?"

Binah<That's enough, Stop!>

*She stands up & holds up a hand in a commanding stop gesture. Roatha then points at her.*

R"You can't tell me...! What...to...."

*He literally slows to a stop in mid-sentence. Even the dark flames are frozen in midair.*

Binah<I'm sorry that you had to hear that, but I didn't want to intervene unless this became a medical emergency.>
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L"Well, it's either that, or you messed something up."

*Thiera waves her hands calmingly at Monu.*

T"I'm sure we won't have to fight over this. He just needs a few minutes to calm down, & then he'll listen to reason. I'm sure."

*Artexi comes over to see what the others are doing*
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Monu:<I do hope you are right.>
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*Safian growls and her hair stands on end*

"I don't really think you know what it means to be gay," Noct said, "Because it isn't about silly words, and the dreams of children. Think about a deep, loving relationship between men... Like you and Roatha."

--

Mortal had already puffed out her chest, and was about to admonish Roatha when Binah did her thing. "What was that about?" She asked, visibly still upset, "What are these dark flames?"

Taiyo stops, unsure of what just transpired, but it certainly didn't make her feel any better.

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Azuma: "I'm confident that my pissing him off was not enough to turn him over to the Dark Side."

L"Well, it isn't really that simple. If you could prevent turning into a Heartless just from sheer force of will, then everyone would do it. As the transformation draws nearer, rationality diminishes, & negative tendencies rise."

T"And you just let him go!?"

L"He shouldn't transform the second we're not looking. Besides, being a Heartless is not a permanent affliction. A Heartless can be restored to its lost body with the Keyblade."
===========================
*Binah walks towards them, gesturing to Mortal.*

Binah<You were not there at the time, but Roatha was attacked by a Heartless. Senthose's Heartless, to be exact. He had a great deal of darkness injected straight into his heart, but was prevented from transforming by quick intervention. That should have been the end of it, but something remained. Near as I can tell, it seems to result in intrusive thoughts, & the ability to transform when acting out aggression.>

*She points to her hand.*

Binah<That is where the Second Keyblade comes in. How or why he acquires the ability to dual wield, I still cannot answer. There are several things about this affliction that do not add up.>

E"So he's not always that big of a jerk?"

Binah<As a matter of fact, in all of the time that he has been my student, I have never seen any sign that he harbored any sort of dislike for Taiyo or Mortal. But when surrounded by darkness, most things are perceived as unpleasant, threatening, & devoid of light themselves.>
==================================
*Nero's eyes widen for a second, then narrow, immediately looking several times more cold & hostile. He points at her, roughly chest-level.*

"Listen, you, Roatha & I are not 'gay,' we are not 'in love,' & as a matter of fact, I don't even like that arrogant jackass! So don't talk about shit you know nothing about!"

*And so he hops on the platform that takes him to the lower floor of the Entrance Hall.*

Taiyo: "Will he be okay?"

Mortal slumped her shoulders, feeling slightly bad about what would have been her initial reaction, "I had no idea. People who become heartless can be helped though, right?"

--

Noctis puts her hands up, and takes a step back, though she can't help smiling, "Trigger warning on Roatha, got it." She then looks at Artexi, "Where have you been?"

*Artexi hops up as well*

<Just lookin' around.>
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Monu:<We should let Master Binah know what is going on.>

Binah<I know of various methods to hold off the transformation. The most effective way would be to physically enter the heart & purge the infection.>
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L"We shouldn't tell her every little thing. We need to be more independent. Which means finding Roatha & moving on with the mission."

*And so she heads out.*
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*Once they're at the bottom, Nero jumps off & immediately heads up the stairs, knowing that there's probably a door out of this room up there. The pedestal begins floating back up towards Noctis.*

*Monu shrugs and follows her*
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*Artexi follows*

Noctis goes back to reading her book, and hops on when the platform arrives.

--

"Taiyo and I could do it," Mortal suggested, "We've already done something similar."

Taiyo: "That's not really the same thing."

===================================

Everyone plays follow the leader.

Binah<It was exactly the same thing, though it may not play out in exactly the same way.>

*Lilith & co. stroll in.*

L"Discussing the Dive to the Heart?"

Binah<You came to the same conclusion.>

L"We were hoping that he would agree to it voluntarily. We didn't expect him to come in here & start making trouble."
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*The book specifies that the Lux was everywhere & people fought over concentrations of it, but what they really wanted was the source. It says that everyone was eventually swept up into the conflict of good & evil, & the world was destroyed. And it does indeed say that the lights in the hearts of children brought it back, but people now lived separately, in bubbles of light surrounded by a sea of darkness. Meanwhile, they enter [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Nero stares at a platform similar to the one they rode down, but surrounded by a light cage.*

N"Must be some kind of elevator. But it's outside of the barrier. How are we supposed to get on?"

*His question is answered when he sees a statue like a weird, spiky ball sitting on a pedestal. Of course he has to touch it, & a bolt of blue energy transports them onto the platform. They descend into darkness, finding themselves let out next to a pair of massive stone doors, with another Lift Control nearby, presumably to go back up. Nero, again acting on impulse, summons his Keyblade & taps the doors, at which point they slowly swing open, revealing a cavernous dark hallway with stone walls beyond. He begins to walk down it.*

Azuma: "So who's going in and when? Probably won't be like that for long."

Mortal pointed to herself, then Taiyo, "I suggested Taiyo and myself, since we already did it before."

--

Noct speeds up until she is caught up with Nero, and Artexi.

*Artexi follows Nero own the hall*
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Monu:<Agreed.>

*Nero turns the handle of the first rotting, wooden door that he sees. Of course, it is locked, so of course, he uses his Keyblade.*

"Whoa. Get a load of this lively joint."

*He strides into a room with a few barrels & crates on the left hand side, but mostly 5 coffins haphazardly placed around. Only the central coffin has a lid. The rest are open, revealing that the flesh inside has long since decayed away, leaving piles of broken bones.*

"...Shit."

*He points to the back of the room where a bunch of bones, mostly skulls, are piled up in a vaguely pyramid shape.*
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L"We might as well all go. There's not much that we can do until this issue is sorted out."

*And so she fires a beam of light at his chest, at which point a door forms in front of him & opens onto darkness. Assuming that they [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], they find themselves floating down through the darkness. However, instead of seeing a bright circle of stained glass awaiting them, they see the vague outlines of 4 discrete pie-shaped chunks. Glowing yellow eyes open up all around them & shadowy versions of Roatha with his dual Keyblades leap out at them, slashing. Thiera protects their right side with a fire shield & Euryale spins, creating a waterspout to the left. Lilith shoots seeds out in front of them. Several of the Anti-Roathas go flying back into the darkness & dissolve. However, some manage to push through Lilith's attack. Furthermore, there are also Anti-Roathas coming from behind, below, & above.*

*Monu uses Aero Shield to protect the group while Safian breathes fire to destroy some Anti-Roathas*
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*Artexi checks the closed coffin, wrinkling her nose*

Hitomo directs her Keyblades to fire at the Anti-Roatha's coming in from below and above. Taiyo shoots bubbles at the ones further away and swings her other Keyblade at any that are closing in.

Azuma swings at the Anti-Roatha's that manage to get in close.

Noctis deepens her scowl, and folds her arms, "What a warm and inviting place."

--

Mortal, by process of elimination, is left defending the rear. She does so by creating, then quickly launching, three fire balls at any enemies approaching from that direction.

*They manage to repel the Anti-Roathas long enough to land on one of the broken fragments of the Station. Roatha, standing nearby, turns to them.*

T"Are you...okay?"

R"Better than I've felt in days. But why am I here? For that matter, why are YOU here?"

*He looks around, seeing the Anti-Roathas landing nearby.*

R"Why are THEY here?"

*He generates his Keyblade, blocking an attack from one & getting slashed across the back by another. Gritting his teeth, he jerks his hand back, knocking it backwards with a bolt of lightning. The Anti-Roatha attacking him pushes him down, & another tries to land on top of him. At this point, Lilith joins the fight, stabbing her Keyblade into the ground, prompting branches to begin springing up & pummeling the attackers. Other Anti-Roathas resume their likely ineffectual attempts to charge the Order as a hooded figure rises out of the darkness.*
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*A [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in the coffin abruptly opens his eyes & sits bolt-upright, like some kind of delayed rigor mortis. He turns to stare at Artexi.*

<...I've never seen you before. Leave.>

"It's a vampire, cut his head off!"

*Nero chucks the Keyblade at the man, but he grabs it with a clawed, metal arm without looking.*

*Artexi summons her keyblade, holding it in front of her*

<Who are you?>
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*Monu uses Eagle's Claw on the nearest attackers while Safian breathes a wave of darkness at them*

The three essentially do what they were doing previously.

Mortal repeats her attack as well, but only in an attempt to stall the fake Roatha's so that she could get close enough to help the real one out of the dog pile he was in.

--

Noctis raised an eyebrow, "So you're fine with Gargoyles, but Vampires are where you draw the line?" She then looked at the vampire, "And you, you must have been sleeping for a while. This place is abandoned.

N"Vampires suck your blood!"

???<I am not a vampire. I am...or was a guard. Named Vincent.>

N"But we found you sleeping in a coffin."

Vincent<Yes. I have not been disturbed in years.>

N"But that's...& the cape...but...vampire...."

Vincent<This castle has become an unending nightmare for all who inhabit it. Leave, or you will be next.>

*He lazily tosses the Darker Than Dark back to Nero's feet.*

Vincent<Strike me if you wish. I will not die.>
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*As predicted, all of the Anti-Roathas are quickly wiped off of the map. Roatha rises to his feet, balancing on his Keyblade as he glares at the hooded figure.*

R"So you're my Heartless, huh?"

*The figure reaches up & pulls back his hood, revealing that he looks much like Roatha, only with silver hair & red eyes. Unlike Roatha, he's grinning wide, showing his teeth.*

Dark Roatha<Nope!>

E"You...look strangely familiar...."

R"Well, yeah, he's my Heartless, so of course he would look like me."

Dark Roatha<She's talking about the ways I take after my other dad, Idiot.>